Beware of Bogus IRS Emails

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The IRS receives thousands of reports every year from taxpayers who receiveemails out-of-the-blue claiming to be from the IRS. Scammers use the IRS nameor logo to make the message appear authentic so you will respond to it. Inreality, it’s a scam known as “phishing,” attempting to trick you intorevealing your personal and financial information. The criminals then use thisinformation to commit identity theft or steal your money.
The IRS has this advice for anyone who receives an email claiming to be fromthe IRS or directing you to an IRS site:

• Do not reply to the message;
• Do not open any attachments. Attachments may contain malicious code that will infect your computer; and
• Do not click on any links in a suspicious email or phishing website and do not enter confidential information. Visit the IRS website and click on 'Identity Theft' at the bottom of the page for more information.

Here are five other key points the IRS wants you to know about phishingscams.
1. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email or socialmedia channels to request personal or financial information;
2. The IRS never asks for detailed personal and financial informationlike PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for creditcard, bank or other financial accounts;
3. The address of the official IRS website is www.irs.gov.Do not be misled by sites claiming to be the IRS but ending in .com, .net, .orgor anything other than .gov. If you discover a website that claims to be theIRS but you suspect it is bogus, do not provide any personal information ontheir site and report it to the IRS;
4. If you receive a phone call, fax or letter in the mail from anindividual claiming to be from the IRS but you suspect they are not an IRSemployee, contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to determine if the IRS has alegitimate need to contact you. Report any bogus correspondence. Forward asuspicious email to phishing@irs.gov;
5. You can help the IRS and other law enforcement agencies shut downthese schemes. Visit the IRS.gov website to get details on how to report scamsand helpful resources if you are the victim of a scam. Click on "ReportingPhishing" at the bottom of the page.